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The 1909 strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, attracted the attention of the IWW, which had a policy of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, blood for blood."<ref>Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=MKzorg2128cC La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience]'' (New York: HarperCollins, 1993) ISBN 0060924411, p. 295</ref> According to Thomas Brewton, a [http://www.worldviewtimes.com/bio.php/authorid-100/Thomas-E-Brewton staff writer] for the [http://www.nmatv.com/ New Media Alliance], "The IWW delivered on that threat by murdering half a dozen members of the state constabulary."<ref>Thomas E. Brewton, [http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/weblog_printerFriendly/621/ IWW - Organized Crime in the Labor Market], The View From 1776</ref> Among those killed were Pennsylvania State Troopers John L. Williams and John Curtis Smith.<ref>Marylynne Pitz, "[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09228/990709-51.stm Pressed Steel Car strike in McKees Rocks Reaches Centennial Anniversary]," ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', August 16, 2009</ref>

The 1909 strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, attracted the attention of the IWW, which had a policy of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, blood for blood."<ref>Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=MKzorg2128cC La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience]'' (New York: HarperCollins, 1993) ISBN 0060924411, p. 295</ref> According to Thomas Brewton, a [http://www.worldviewtimes.com/bio.php/authorid-100/Thomas-E-Brewton staff writer] for the [http://www.nmatv.com/ New Media Alliance], "The IWW delivered on that threat by murdering half a dozen members of the state constabulary."<ref>Thomas E. Brewton, [http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/weblog_printerFriendly/621/ IWW - Organized Crime in the Labor Market], The View From 1776</ref> Among those killed were Pennsylvania State Troopers John L. Williams and John Curtis Smith.<ref>Marylynne Pitz, "[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09228/990709-51.stm Pressed Steel Car strike in McKees Rocks Reaches Centennial Anniversary]," ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', August 16, 2009</ref>

The IWW never had a large following, making its greatest impact when it seized control of a large textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. The AFL unions greatly outnumbered the small IWW contingent in Lawrence, but dramatic actions gave momentum to the IWW, much to the disgust of regular unionists. John Golden, president of the AFL United Textile Workers denounced the IWW action as "revolutionary" and "anarchistic" but failed to wrest the leadership of the strike away from the Wobblies. AFL President [[Samuel Gompers]] denounced the strike as a "class conscious industrial revolution ... a passing event that is not intended to be an organization for the protection of the immediate rights or promotion of the near future interests of the workers."  Radical historians have celebrated the strike. When the state government sent in the militia, the IWW sent in its top firebrands, Haywood, Italian anarchist Carlo Tresca, and his wife [[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]]. Finally, the strikers won a small pay increase. IWW membership swelled to 10,000, but the union proved unable to bargain on a routine basis for its members.

The IWW never had a large following, making its greatest impact when it seized control of a large textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. The AFL unions greatly outnumbered the small IWW contingent in Lawrence, but dramatic actions gave momentum to the IWW, much to the disgust of regular unionists. John Golden, president of the AFL United Textile Workers denounced the IWW action as "revolutionary" and "anarchistic" but failed to wrest the leadership of the strike away from the Wobblies. AFL President [[Samuel Gompers]] denounced the strike as a "class conscious industrial revolution ... a passing event that is not intended to be an organization for the protection of the immediate rights or promotion of the near future interests of the workers."  Radical historians have celebrated the strike. When the state government sent in the militia, the IWW sent in its top firebrands, Haywood, Italian anarchist Carlo Tresca, and his wife [[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]]. Finally, the strikers won a pay increase. IWW membership swelled to 10,000, but the union proved unable to bargain on a routine basis for its members.

The IWW is most famous for the execution of IWW member Joe Hill. As Brewton recounts:

The IWW is most famous for the execution of IWW member Joe Hill. As Brewton recounts:

An hour and a half after the murders, Dr. Frank McHugh was awakened at his home by IWW member Joe Hill, who had a gunshot wound in his chest.  As he was being treated, a revolver slipped from his pocket to the floor.  Hearing about the Morrison murders the next day, Dr. McHugh alerted the police.  Joe Hill was arrested, convicted, and executed for the murders.<ref>Thomas E. Brewton, [http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/weblog_printerFriendly/621/ IWW - Organized Crime in the Labor Market], The View From 1776</ref>}}

An hour and a half after the murders, Dr. Frank McHugh was awakened at his home by IWW member Joe Hill, who had a gunshot wound in his chest.  As he was being treated, a revolver slipped from his pocket to the floor.  Hearing about the Morrison murders the next day, Dr. McHugh alerted the police.  Joe Hill was arrested, convicted, and executed for the murders.<ref>Thomas E. Brewton, [http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/weblog_printerFriendly/621/ IWW - Organized Crime in the Labor Market], The View From 1776</ref>}}

In 1916, in Everett, Washington, IWW members came in support of a strike by shingle workers at the Clough-Hartly mill.  After I.W.W. members were beaten by local deputies and citizens and left to walk back to Seattle; plans were made to return in aboard the steamer ''Verona''.  When the ''Verona'' tried to dock it was met by the sheriff, a number of deputies and and many onlookers.  To this day it is uncertain who fired the first shots, but in the ensuing chaos a deputy sheriff was shot in the back by friendly fire, a lumber company official died five I.W.W. members were killed with six others unaccounted for.  During the battle the ''Verona'' nearly capsized due to I.W.W. members trying to flee the gunfire. Strongest among miners and lumberjacks in the far west, the IWW lost its next big strike, in Patterson, New Jersey, in 1916, and membership fell to 400 radicals.

In 1916, in Everett, Washington, I.W.W. members came in support of a strike by shingle workers at the Clough-Hartly mill.  After I.W.W. members were beaten by local deputies and citizens and left to walk back to Seattle; plans were made to return in aboard the steamer ''Verona''.  When the ''Verona'' tried to dock it was met by the sheriff, a number of deputies and and many onlookers.  To this day it is uncertain who fired the first shots, but in the ensuing chaos a deputy sheriff was shot in the back by friendly fire, a lumber company official died five I.W.W. members were killed with six others unaccounted for.  During the battle the ''Verona'' nearly capsized due to I.W.W. members trying to flee the gunfire. Strongest among miners and lumberjacks in the far west, the IWW lost its next big strike, in Patterson, New Jersey, in 1916, and membership fell to 400 radicals.

[[Image:American-cities-125.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Bombing of the Federal building, Chicago, moments after [[#refNARAcities|95 Wobblies]] were convicted there, 1918. ''Source: National Archives and Records Administration'']]During World War I, the IWW tried to sabotage the U.S. war effort. All leading Wobblies were arrested by the [[Woodrow Wilson|Wilson Administration]] under the [[Sedition Act of 1918]] and went to prison. Moments after the sentencing of [[#refNARAcities|95 Wobbies]] (including Haywood) at the Chicago Federal Building in 1918, a bomb ripped through the building, killing four.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9502E2DB1439E13ABC4D53DFBF668383609EDE IWW Bomb Kills Four in Chicago]," ''The New York Times'', September 5, 1918; Charles Howard McCormick, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Vcvhrdr6drgC Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers]'' (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2005) ISBN 0761831320, pp. 31-31</ref> Out on appeal in 1921, Haywood fled to [[Moscow]], where he became a trusted adviser to the [[Bolshevik]] government.<ref>Douglas Linder (2003), [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haywood/HAY_BHAY.HTM William D. Haywood], Famous Trials (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)</ref>

[[Image:American-cities-125.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Bombing of the Federal building, Chicago, moments after [[#refNARAcities|95 Wobblies]] were convicted there, 1918. ''Source: National Archives and Records Administration'']]During World War I, the IWW tried to sabotage the U.S. war effort. All leading Wobblies were arrested by the [[Woodrow Wilson|Wilson Administration]] under the [[Sedition Act of 1918]] and went to prison. Moments after the sentencing of [[#refNARAcities|95 Wobbies]] (including Haywood) at the Chicago Federal Building in 1918, a bomb ripped through the building, killing four.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9502E2DB1439E13ABC4D53DFBF668383609EDE IWW Bomb Kills Four in Chicago]," ''The New York Times'', September 5, 1918; Charles Howard McCormick, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Vcvhrdr6drgC Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers]'' (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2005) ISBN 0761831320, pp. 31-31</ref> Out on appeal in 1921, Haywood fled to [[Moscow]], where he became a trusted adviser to the [[Bolshevik]] government.<ref>Douglas Linder (2003), [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haywood/HAY_BHAY.HTM William D. Haywood], Famous Trials (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)</ref>

That year, after the [[Bolsheviks]] brutally<ref>Scott Zenkatsu Parker, ''[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mhuey/ Pravda o Kronshtadte]'' ("The Truth about Kronstadt"), ed. Mary Huey (University of Michigan)</ref> crushed<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B05EED8133CE533A25752C1A9659C946095D6CF Bolsheviki Crush Moscow Uprising]," ''The New York Times'', March 11, 1921</ref> a wave of strikes,<ref>Michael C. Hickey, [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23572 A Social Contract and No Socialism], H-Russia Discussion Network (April, 2009), H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Online), Michigan State University</ref> Haywood betrayed the workers, saying, "every genuine labor union in the United States ought to affiliate with the International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions with its central bureau at Moscow."<ref>Max Eastman, "[http://www.marxists.org/archive/eastman/1921/bill-haywood.htm Bill Haywood, Communist]," ''The Liberator'', April, 1921;</ref> (The ICTIU was the phony "union" created and controlled by the [[Kremlin]] to suppress workers' rights in the [[Soviet Union]].)<ref>''[http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/093/699.htm Профессиональные союзы СССР]'' (The trade unions of the USSR), cultinfo.ru; cf. Israel Getzler, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qK3m05CQhT4C Kronstadt 1917-1921: The Fate of a Soviet Democracy]'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002) ISBN 0521894425, p. 233</ref> The union collapsed, but a tiny remnant still exists.

That year, after the [[Bolsheviks]] brutally<ref>Scott Zenkatsu Parker, ''[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mhuey/ Pravda o Kronshtadte]'' ("The Truth about Kronstadt"), ed. Mary Huey (University of Michigan)</ref> crushed<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B05EED8133CE533A25752C1A9659C946095D6CF Bolsheviki Crush Moscow Uprising]," ''The New York Times'', March 11, 1921</ref> a wave of strikes,<ref>Michael C. Hickey, [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23572 A Social Contract and No Socialism], H-Russia Discussion Network (April, 2009), H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Online), Michigan State University</ref> Haywood betrayed the workers, saying, "every genuine labor union in the United States ought to affiliate with the International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions with its central bureau at Moscow."<ref>Max Eastman, "[http://www.marxists.org/archive/eastman/1921/bill-haywood.htm Bill Haywood, Communist]," ''The Liberator'', April, 1921;</ref> (The ICTIU was the phony "union" created and controlled by the [[Kremlin]] to suppress workers' rights in the [[Soviet Union]].)<ref>''[http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/093/699.htm Профессиональные союзы СССР]'' (The trade unions of the USSR), cultinfo.ru; cf. Israel Getzler, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qK3m05CQhT4C Kronstadt 1917-1921: The Fate of a Soviet Democracy]'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002) ISBN 0521894425, p. 233</ref> The union collapsed, but a tiny remnant still exists.

The IWW remains an icon of the far left, who admire its bitter, often violent opposition to capitalism and its rejection of American ideals.

The IWW remains an icon of the far left, who admire its opposition to capitalism.

==Further reading==

==Further reading==